New York Digital Health Accelerator Announces Top Pick Companies For 2014

NEW YORK, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- New York is at the forefront of the rapidly growing field of health information technology, thanks to a public-private partnership sponsored by the State of New York, the nonprofit New York e-Health Collaborative (NYeC), and the Partnership Fund for New York City, the investment arm of the city's leading business organization. Today, this partnership announced the list of seven healthcare startups selected to participate in their 2014 New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA).

"We have selected seven early- and growth-stage digital health companies that will be put on a fast track for building a successful business providing technology solutions to the health care industry that will ultimately reduce health costs and improve patient outcomes," said Maria Gotsch, President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City.  "The 2014 class was selected through a competitive process from a pool of over one hundred applicants by the senior technology and innovation executives of the state's twenty-three leading health care systems." 

During the four-month program, participating start-ups will work closely with these senior-level executives to fine-tune and develop their technologies and business strategies through direct mentorship as well as a series of workshops, panel discussions, user-group sessions, networking opportunities, one-on-one meetings and presentations.  In addition, these companies receive on average $100,000 in capital investment.

"The New York Digital Health Accelerator has been instrumental in stimulating health IT innovation in New York," said David Whitlinger, Executive Director of NYeC.  "The NYDHA looks forward to helping spur innovation through access to the Statewide Health Information Network of New York and by providing New York's most promising healthcare entrepreneurs with the financial and professional support they need to truly succeed."

The program has shown strong success.  In its first year, the class has raised $21 million in additional capital and created 120 new jobs in New York City.  Two of these startups, Avado and Remedy Systems, were acquired within 6 months of graduating.

The 2014 Class

AllazoHealth addresses the problem of medication non-adherence by leveraging existing member data to anticipate which patients will not take their medications to predict how best to effectively influence each patient to take their medication.  (www.allazohealth.com)

Clinigence's solution—built around clinical data analytics, sematic data aggregation, and predictive modeling—provides real-time clinically-based reports about care gaps which help healthcare providers improve outcomes to proactively address the shift to value-based models and the growing demand for quality patient care. (www.clinigence.com)

Covertix helps healthcare organizations protect and control confidential data shared between patients, healthcare professionals, hospital networks and third party vendors to improve their coordination of care.  (www.covertix.com)

iQuartic's technology merges, structures and mines EHR, PBM, claims and mHealth data for analytics that inform and benchmark care based on outcomes/best practices and adjusted population.  (www.iquartic.com)

Noom makes software to help people live healthier.  For consumers, the Noom Weight Loss Coach, with over 11 million downloads, coaches users on nutrition and exercise. Noom's different patient engagement apps are based on its consumer-facing app. (www.noom.com). 

Quality Reviews empowers patients through their flagship product, RateMyHospital.com, a real-time, mobile patient feedback tool.  (www.q-reviews.com) 

Sense Health uses mobile technology to build personal connections between providers and high-risk Medicaid patients to improve outcomes and the quality of care.  (www.sensehealth.com)

NYeC and the Partnership Fund designed this unique program to cultivate development of health information technology in New York, leveraging both the burgeoning NYC tech sector and the extensive concentration of financial and healthcare organizations here.  The Partnership Fund has historically been a strong supporter of entrepreneurial businesses that promote economic development in New York.  At the same time, NYeC has built relationships with a broad cross-section of healthcare organizations as the state-designated purveyor of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY).  By partnering, these two organizations can foster high-potential start-ups that would benefit from mentoring and venture capital investment.

Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Kenneth Adams, whose agency is providing a $250,000 grant in support of the NYDHA program, said, "The New York Digital Health Accelerator has raised millions in capital funds and created 120 new jobs in its first year alone. I commend NYeC and the Partnership Fund for New York City on this innovative venture which will keep New York at the forefront of the rapidly growing health technology industry." 

Investment capital will be provided by Baxter Ventures, Deerfield Management Company, Milestone Venture Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Safeguard Scientifics and the Partnership Fund for New York City.

Strategic sponsors of the New York Digital Health Accelerator include Genentech (A Member of the Roche Group), Infor, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and Pfizer. The Empire State Development Corporation and NYeC will also provide additional funds.

Mentoring will be provided by twenty-three leading healthcare organizations, including insurance companies, medical centers and hospital groups.

The NYDHA was ranked the #1 Health IT Accelerator in the world by the Rotman School of Management as compared to 21 other programs and has been lauded by Todd Park, United States Chief Technical Officer, and the California HealthCare Foundation for its deep industry ties.

More information about the New York Digital Health Accelerator is available at www.digitalhealthaccelerator.com.

About The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC):
NYeC is a not-for-profit organization, working in partnership with the New York State Department of Health to improve healthcare for all New Yorkers through health information technology (health IT). Founded in 2006 by healthcare leaders, NYeC receives funding from state and federal grants to serve as the focal point for health IT in the State of New York. NYeC works to develop policies and standards, to assist healthcare providers in making the shift to electronic health records, and to coordinate the creation of the Statewide Health Information Network of New York(SHIN-NY), a network to connect healthcare providers statewide. www.nyehealth.org.

About the Partnership Fund for New York City (Partnership Fund):
The Partnership Fund for New York City is the $110 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org). The Fund's mission is to engage the City's business leaders to identify and support promising NYC-based entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors to create jobs, spur new business and expand opportunities for New Yorkers to participate in the City's economy. The Fund is governed by a Board of Directors co-chaired by Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner of One Equity Partners, and Charles "Chip" Kaye, co-president of Warburg Pincus LLC. Maria Gotsch serves as President and CEO of the Fund.

Contact:
Shruti Sehgal, [email protected] / 646-200-5283
Farrell Sklerov: [email protected] / 212-843-8289

SOURCE New York eHealth Collaborative